There is something singularly sweet about a person discovering your passions, and giving you gifts to make those passions bloom. No preamble, no flourish. Quite simply a gift because it will make you happy.
I make no secret of the fact that I feel a very large amount of kinship with Ana Pascal in Stranger Than Fiction. There is no doubt in my mind that cooking for people is one of the easiest ways to change the world for the better, and having a bakery called The Uprising would be outstanding.
I would want a place where people felt welcomed, relaxed, ready to play a game of chess with someone they've just met, or read quietly in the comfortable chairs. There's something magical about the way people smile when they eat food made for them, with intent and purpose. Without that intent, people can tell their breakfast bagel means change in the register, nothing more.
Do you remember the last time you didn't feel like your money was all that mattered when you grabbed breakfast on the way to work? Who looked you in the eye when you ordered that coffee: was it someone who smiled with happiness the moment s/he recognized you? It comes back to intent.
Intent is as vibrant a flavoring as saffron, and more precious, because handing someone who is having a bad morning their favorite chocolate and shaved almond filled phyllo dough pastry can stop them dead in their tracks. A day without sunshine and hope has melted into the buttery sweet relief of a taste that means, "I thought of you this morning. I anticipated your arrival. I celebrated it with care, and joy, and the dedication to make your favorite breakfast the way you want it, the way you were hoping this day would go before everything started going wrong."
Food can change the world. For one person, for one day, food can change the world. I want to make food that changes the day for people. I want strangers to know I care about what they put in their bodies, because it matters.
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